Cut-off for gas-lines.



H. C. GRIMES.

` CUT-OPF FOR GAS LINES.

. APPLICATION Hum m1111121, 1909. RENBWBD MAB. 14, 1911.

1,000,799, 1 Patented Aug.15,1911.

" UNXTFED STATES 01"'y WEST VIRGINIAn PATENT OFFICE; A

vHARRY C. GRIMES, O TERRA'-ALTA, WEST VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR T0 GRIMESAUTO- MATIC G-AS REGULATOR COMPANY, 0F

ELKINS, WEST VIRGINIA, A CORPORATION i CUT-Orr ron. Y GAS-LINES Applieatiiieaue 21, v1909, serial No. 503,411. Renewed Meren 14, 1911. serial No. 614,456.

l upheld valve is employed to normally main-v tain the communication of the main and the .house service pipe, the valve closing automatically when the 'pressure falls to a certain degree and remaining in its closed posi-.-v

tion, 'either by virtue of some positive means provided for this lpurpose or by virt-ue of its relation to the openings in the vvalve casing.

In so far as the arrangement of-parts and modes of'operation are concerned, the artof `pressure cut-oifs has been, in the main, satisfactorily developed and a number of the devices now known to the art are, considered from this standpoint, of eflicient nat 1re. In so far as Iam aware, however, there is one objection which the prior devices have not solved in a satisfactory and practical manner. This objection resideslin the'4 fact that no satisfactory means to seal the rjoints of the valve and the casing in either of the two positions of thel former, has been produced,`

' which may be advantageously or practically.

used, with devices otherwise practical and.

efficient.v It is desirable that the joints be sealed against leakage for the purposes of safety, more particularly against explosions, and also of economy. It has beenproposed to provide ground joints for this purpose.

- yThis adds materially to the expense of production and is. not over-efficient as a-practi calproposition. Gaskets of ordinary construction have` also. been used 'but in such packing of non-elastic Huid valves, they are not satisfactoryY when employed as the packtheir liability to wear badly, to-warp or to become.distorted from other causes. Furthermore, the form of such gaskets does not admit, in all cases, of the necessary and intimate conformable engagement of the interitting parts whereat the joint occurs.

The present invention residesmore particularly in the provision of means of a novel nature for sealing the joints between the valve and the casing in either -of the two positions of the former, whereby the results desired vare efficiently attained and the disadvantages noted are' overcome.

illustrated a preferred and advantageous embodiment of the invention.

gitudinal section of a known form Aof pressure cut-off showing the application of the `present improvements thereto, and showing the valve in yits open position. Fig.l 2 is a similar view-'showing the valve in its closed xposition. i

. lSimilar characters of reference designate corresponding parts in both views. l

The main or supply pipe is indicated by ice pipe by the numeral2.- The valve casing, as 3, forrn's a connection between these pipes, having-an axial .threaded continuation 4 to whichthe pipe 1 isjoined and having alateral threaded continuation 5 to which the pipe 2 is joined. Theembodimento'f valve obligatory and other arrangements of the pipes l and 2 than that herein shown maybe the casing 3 and vincludes a stem, as 6, and a valve head, as 7, the latter having its under face providedwith a conical .recess 8 and vhaving its upper face provided with a coni.- calfboss,as `9,'to11\1'7hich the stem 6 is yjoined in any suitable manner: The Words upspecication, are yof course employed 'in a relativeand'not in an absolute. sense.

'ing of elastic fluid valves, 011 account of- Q In the accompanylng drawlngs I have the numeral 1 and the distributing or serv- 'l casing herein shown is exemplary and not` provided -for.` The valve moves axially of.

.per and under and similar lwords of l0-` cati'on and. direction used throughouty this.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Ang; 15, 1911 I,

In the said drawings: Figure 1 is a lon- The upper end portion of the valve casing is for` convenience formed of a plurality of sections, one of which, as 10, is threaded into w'ardly by a coil spring 20 and engages in the groove 17 in'the lowermost position of the valve.

Vith the foregoing apparatus, it vwill bev understood that the pressure of the gas flowing through the pipes` 1 and 2 is normally sufficient to hold the valve in its uppermost position so that the communication of the pipes 1 and 2 is not interrupted. The valve normally rises and falls in accordance with slight increasing or decreasing variations in the pressure. However, should there be such a material decrease of pressure as would permit the valve to assume its lowermost position, as shown .in Fig. 2, the communication of the pipes 1 and 2 will be interrupted and the valve will be held against subsequent upward movement when the pressure again becomes normal, 'by the plunger 19, the end of which engages in the groove 17 and thereby locks thevalve in its lowermost position, in order to prevent the gas from issuing at the open jets in the building. To restore the valve to its normal position, the plunger 19 is retracted and the valve is then lifted, the upper end of the valve stem having a knob which provides a hand grip.

The structure above described, per se, does not represent the present invention but simply discloses an 'embodiment in connection with which the present improvements may be advantageously employed.

The preferred form of means for sealing the valve, such ymeans constituting vthe essence ofthe invention, comprises upper and lower sealing devicesl 21 and 22, in the nature of elastic rubber tubular members, which have what may be termed an unrestricted circumferential sealing engagement with the Afaces of the boss 9 and recess 8 respectively.

The device 21 is preferably'of tubular frustoconical form andat its upper end has an enlarged portion 23 which seats aga-inst aflange 24 which projects inwardly at the lower end of the section 10. This seating may be Ymaintainedin any suitable manner. As shown in the drawings, a hollow conical member 25 preferably constructedof' sheet metal, is employed, whichl member is clamped between the section 10 and the cap section 12 and has its lower `portion fitted into the conical bore of the tube 21. The smaller end of the latter projects beyond the vsection 10 and toward the valve head 7;

With the valve in its uppermost position, the boss V9 projects into the smaller end of the tube 21, as shown in I4`ig.'1, producing a wedge-like spreading of the end ofthe tube which is possible by reason of the liexible nature of therubber employed. The end of the tube 21 thus yieldably andsnugly surrounds the boss 9 and it is for this reason that the engagement of the tube and the boss is termed an unrestricted circumferential sealing engagement. This c1rcumferential engagement .is effected throughout attained. In the first place, being yieldable,

it is wear-resisting and is not liabley to distortion and in the second place, in connection with the spreading action of the boss 9v and its circumferential engagement, it efficient-ly seals against leakage throughout the normal rrange of movement of the valve incident to slight pressure variations,V

The device 22 is generally similar to the vdevice 21, being composed of liexible rubber and of hollow tubular frusto-conical form. The tube 22 is provided with acircumscribring flange 25a which is clamp/ed against a shoulder 26 formed in the casing 3 by means of a' ring, as 27, which is threaded into the extension 4. The tube 22 has yieldable circumferential engagement with the wall of lthe recess 8, Vthe parts having conformable interfitting relation as is shown in Fig. 2. The tube v22 attains the same advantages as the tube 21 in that it is wear-resisting, not liable to distortion, and has the yieldable unrestricted circumferential engagement de v scribed.

sa j

Vhile the Aarrangement shown at the upf per end of the valve casing could, if desired,

and may under certain circumstances be advantageously adopted, at the lower end of sa1d casing, the arrangement herein shown Iis preferred with the formv of device disclosed, since the recess 8 aords a space in which the gas mayl accumulate to efficiently l tation on the application of the invention or on the scope of the following claims.

Having fully described my invention, I claim:

l. In a pressure cut-off for gas lines, the combination with a casing having an inlet 'and an outlet. and avalve in the casing and having two positions, 'the one establishing communication of the inletand the outlet` through the casing and the other interrupting such communlcation, of means for. sealing the j oints between the valve and the casing in either position of the former and comprlsing tubular elastic rubber members whlcli have unrestricted circumferential seahng engagement with the conformably outlined surfaces of' adjacent portions of the'valve.

2. In a pressure cut-off for gas lines, the

combina'tion with a casing having an inlet and an outlet and a valve\to control the communication of the inlet and the outlet, the valve being axially movable in the cas# ing to a position at either end thereof, of

' means for sealing the joints between the the formerandfcomprising axially disposed tubular elastic rubber frusto-cone-shaped members which have unrestricted circumferential sealing engagement with frustoconical faces provided therefor at the adjacent ends of the valve. A

4. In a gas pressure cut-off, the combination with a valve and its casing, of means to seal the jointQbetwecn the valve land the casing@ in one position of the former and comprising an elastic rubber tubular member which has unrestricted circumferential yielding engagement with the adjacent con-V formably outlined surface of the valve.

5. In a. gas pressure cut-off, the combination with a valve and itscasing, ofl means to seal the joint betweenthe valve and the casing in oneposition of the former and E comprising an elastic rubber tubularlfrustocone-shaped member which has unrestricted circumferential yielding .engagement with a frusto-Lconical face provided therefor at the adjacent end of the valve.

6. In a gas pressure cut-ofi', the combina-A tion with a valve and its casingconstitut-v ion part.

ing companion parts, of means for sealing the joint between: the same and comprising. an elastic rubber tubular member carried by' one of the parts and having unrestricted cir'- cumferential yielding-engagement with the confo-rmably outlined l-face of the compan- 7. In a gas pressure cut-olf, the combination with a valve and-its casing, constitutj ing companionl parts, of means to seal the joint between the same in one posit-ion ofv the former and comprising an elastic'rubber tubular frusto-cone-shapedmember carriedv by vone of the parts and having unrestricted circumferential yyielding engagement with a frusto-conical face provided therefor on the companion part.

8. InI a gas pressure cut-off, the combination with a valve and its casing, constituting companion parts, of means to seal the jo1nt between the same in one position of the former and comprising an elastic rubber frusto-cone-shaped member carried by one of the parts and having unrestricted circumferential yielding engagement with a' frusto-conical face provided thereforv on the companion part. v

' 9. In a pressure cut-'off for gas lines, the combination with 'a casing havingan inlet and an outlet and a valve axiallyl movable in the casing, thevalve having a frustoconical boss on its upper, face and a frustoconicalrecess in its underface, of means for sealing the joints between the casing `and the respective faces of the valve in the various positions thereof, comprising Itubular elastic rubber members which are secured in the l.valve casing', one of which has unrestricted circumferential sealing engagementwith the -surface of the aforesaid boss and the other of which has unrestricted circum. v

' ferential sealing engagement with the surface of the aforesaid recess'.

10. In a pressure cut-ofi: for gasv lines, the

combination with a casing having an linlet and an outlet, of a valve movable axially of the casing and having frusto-conical upper and -under faces, elastic v rubber tubular frusto-conical members separably arranged at the endsl of the casing for unrestricted circumferential sealing ,engagement with the said faces and means for securing the members in position. v f

' 11. In a pressure'cut-of for gas lines, the combination with a casing having an inlet andan outlet and a valve in the casing hav-V ing a frusto-conical boss, of an elastic rubber tubular frusto-conical member arranged for unrestricted circumferential yieldlng engagement withthe surface ofthe boss, the` latter in such engagement projecting into the smaller end of the memberand spreading, the same. v

12. Iny a pressure cut-0E for gas lines, y

the combination with a casing having an inlet and an outlet, of a valve movable axi ally of the casing and normally upheld Vby pressure in the position to -open the inlet,l

ythe valve having a frustoconical upper face, an unrestricted elastic rubber tubular jfrusto-conlca-l' member for clrcum'ferentlal sealing engagement with said face, and means for engagement with the lower unmy hand in presence of two subscribing witj IIeSSeS.

y HARRY c.- GRIMES.

Witnesses l ROY SEE,Y

BLAIN. TAYLOR. 

